Subatomic Particle Theory Quiz / Test | Sci / Tech

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What is a subatomic particle?

Answer: Particle smaller than an atom

Atoms make up all things. Subatomic particles make up atoms. The main ones are protons, neutrons and electrons, although there are many more. Protons contain a positive charge. Neutrons have no charge (I guess because they don't have credit cards). Protons and neutrons are found in the center, or nucleus, of atoms. Electrons have a negative charge and rotate outside the nucleus.

2. For every particle of matter there is a corresponding particle with identical mass and spin but opposite charge. What are these corresponding particles called?

Answer: Antimatter

According to the Big Bang Theory, immediately after the "Big Bang" there were only matter and antimatter particles. However there were slightly more matter particles--something like one extra per billion particles. Without that imbalance all the matter and antimatter would have cancelled each other out. The universe could not have formed. As Engineer Scott from "Star Trek: TOS" would say "you canna mix matter and antimatter."

The first antimatter particle ever discovered was the antimatter to an electron and was called a positron.

3. Everything must be weighed, even subatomic particles. What standard term is used for expressing the mass of protons, neutrons and electrons?

Answer: AMU (atomic mass unit)

An atomic mass unit, or amu, is defined as 1/12 the mass of a carbon-12 atom. Protons and neutrons are considered to weigh 1 amu (although neutrons are slightly heavier than protons.) An electron is much smaller at 1/1836 amu.

Did you know that when subatomic particles go surfing, the electrons ride micro-waves?

4. Back in the 1940's, before scientists had the instruments to discover the subatomic particles we know today, theoretical physicists George Gamow and Ralph Alpher invented a term for the original substance--the substance that existed right after the Big Bang. What is this term which is derived from the Greek word for "matter?"

Answer: Ylem

Ylem comes from "hylem," the Greek word for matter.

Ziff comes from the "Book of Mormon." It was some kind of bright metal used by the Nephites.

Illudium phosdex is from a "Duck Dodgers" Looney Tunes cartoon. It is the shaving cream atom from Planet X.

A spork is a combination spoon and fork. You can generally find a spork at a fast food establishment.

5. To gain some perspective on the relative sizes of subatomic particles, if an atom was the size of a baseball field, what could represent the nucleus?

Answer: Baseball

A regulation Major League baseball is 9" in circumference with a volume of 12.3 cubic inches. A typical baseball field is about 350' (or 4200") down the foul lines and 390' (or 4680") to straightaway centerfield.

An electron, by contrast, would be smaller than an ant in this scenario.

6. The great physicist Max Planck hypothesized that some types of energy could not take on any value. The value must be a multiple of a very small quantity. What is that quantity called?

Answer: Quantum

Quantum is from the Latin "quantus" or "how much." Planck went on to quantify that multiplier. It became known as the Planck constant and appears in his formula for the proportionality between the energy of a photon and the frequency of its associated electromagnetic wave. That formula is:

E=hV

where E stands for energy in joules, V is frequency in hertz and h is the Planck constant and is equal to 6.26176 x 10 to the -34 power.

A quacker is something a duck puts in its soup. :)

7. Which of the following is NOT an actual quantum scale?

Answer: Planck ton

These scales for measuring in the quantum world are all named after German physicist Max Planck.

Planck length is 10 -33 centimeters and is the smallest length measurement that has meaning.

Planck mass is the mass of a hypothetical particle with a wavelength equal to 1 Planck length and is equal to 10 -5 grams.

Planck time is the length of time it takes for light to travel 1 Planck length and is equal to 10 -43 seconds.

Plankton is something fish eat.

8. What is the name of the theory that states that all forces stem from one force that existed long ago?

Answer: Grand Unified Theory

A particle accelerator propels electrically-charged particles to high speeds. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland sits in a 17-mile circumference tunnel 570 feet underground and is one of the largest accelerators to date. Scientists use accelerator's like the LHC to attempt to prove the Grand Unified Theory.

According to the Chuck Norris Theory, contrary to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, Chuck Norris can actually roundhouse kick you yesterday.

9. Boson particles have superpartners called fermions that differ by half a unit of spin. The boson particles are gluons, photons, W bosons and Z bosons. The photon's superpartner is called photino and the gluon's superpartner is called gluino. What is the W boson's superpartner called?

Answer: Wino

And the Z boson's superpartner is called zino.

A boson itself is a particle that is exchanged when forces occur. For example when two particles push or pull each other, they exchange a boson. Gluons mediate strong force. W and Z bosons mediate weak force. Photons mediate electromagnetic force. A fifth boson, the graviton, has been proposed and is thought to mediate gravity but, alas, no graviton has been found. There is a lot scientists do not know about subatomic particles and their interactions.

10. Baryon degenerate matter is matter in which all the quantum energy states has been occupied. As an example, when a star collapses into itself it is called a neutron star and is composed of baryon degenerate matter. In a neutron star, electrons, which normally orbit the nucleus, are flopped into the nucleus where they merge with protons. What do they become after they merge (remember, electrons have a negative charge, protons have a positive charge)?

Answer: Neutrons

A negatively charged particle will cancel out a positively charged particle, so an electron will merge with a proton to form a particle with no charge--a neutron.

Jabberwock is a creature in Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky." Flopsy was a rabbit in Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Peter Rabbit."

I hope you enjoyed the quiz. More importantly, I hope you now feel smarter about subatomic particles.

Source: Author deputygary

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Subatomic Particle Theory Trivia Quiz

So you want to learn about subatomic particles? You have them. I have them. Llamas and bunnies have them. Everything has them. Take this quiz to learn more.

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